I'm the lucky owner of a new (to me) 2006 DR650. The deal was just too good
to pass up. The bike came with 4.9 gal. IMS tank, FMF Q2 pipe, Corbin seat,
stock rack, TT engine case protector plates, Utah skid plate, extra new sprockets, all stock parts (never used), license plate mod done, air screw drilled, added, charger, all this and only 733 miles showing on the clock. Truly showroom condition and of course it was a good bargain.

So now begins the task of fitting some decent mods. I'm starting with jetting
as the bike was a bit lean and popping badly on de-cel. This will be ongoing.

I'm also thinking about luggage. Soft or Hard? I like soft bags for their narrow, small quality, but that hot pipe will have to be dealt with. I'm working on building a stand off. I'm looking at tank panniers as well but worry about adding weight up front when off road in deep sand.

Thoughts on this?

I've seen the Pelikans but they seem quite large, GIVI's too.

Also thinking about putting the bike on a major diet without compromising
comfort, utility or safety.

So far I have removed:
Passenger pegs.
Rear license plate light and assembly
helmet lock (ground clean off frame)

I will going though and replacing some bolts with Aluminium in unstressed
locations. There are several places on the bike with thick steel brackets
and way over sized steel bolts that I intend to remove or study.

I may re-do the entire headlight assembly, losing the speedo, stock light,
front subframe and going with a tri beam Acerbis off road light, Panoram speedo. Thoughts?

I also intend to remove the HUGE turn signals and go with small ones on
flexible rubber stocks.

I need frame guards of some kind. Anyone do this? My boots will quickly make
a mess of the frame rails.

I may replace the tail light with the off road, low profile one. The stock one
is a bit vulnerable but very bright. (bright is good)

Enough for now, pics to follow.

Patrick


The Virgin

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!